Alright, Vivi. You’ve got some priorities to fix up here.

1. Homework comes first, no matter what. You don’t want to have your rank drop from 4th in class to anything worse during the last two months before rankings freeze (apparently they freeze in April now instead of February?) You would totally hate it if Jordan or Shanna were able to overtake you before graduation, right? Besides, final report cards are being sent to your universities and you could be kicked from those honors programs easily. Just something to think about next time you wanna play TCGs or watch vids on YouTube/Crunchyroll or hang out on Facebook.

2. After homework comes science fair. You’re now an Intel ISEF finalist, it’s about time you started acting like one, right? Maybe you should actually pay more attention to the flaws in your project and fixing them, in addition to editing the hell out of your paper and redoing your board… and this time, DON’T finish it the day that its due, yes?

3. After those two items, you focus on Sekai no Melody. Start marketing it not only as an Internet community but as a semi-professional group that actually merits attention from those outside of the East Asian fanbase. Start working harder on that website and making it Web 2.0 (… joke, it’s a joke) . Maybe you can, uhhhh, finally finish “revamping” that discography and member listing, yes? Perhaps you could work just a -little- harder on your composition skills too, yes? Composition team needs to get some more stuff out so we can actually LITERALLY start marketing SnM (CDBaby, you have a future customer!) Maybe I should ask Steven if he wants to collab with me on something =P

4. After those three items, then you focus on perfecting your skills in computer languages and algorithms. Maybe you should finish that “Teach yourself Perl in 25 days” course you were going through? Maybe it’s about time you perfected those Ruby skills and learned MySQL? Maybe you should go back to the old-school stuff and actually get a good grip on C/C++? Just… maybe? And don’t forget your web programming and design too. Start practicing making those XHTML/CSS layouts, because even though you do use XHTML you still haven’t fully standardized your CSS code and it could get nasty in the future.

5. After all that stuff, you focus on working towards scholarships, because the more money you have for college the better. That’s a given, no more need for explanation.

And yes, you may stop speaking in 2nd person now =)

I’m sick of school. Make it stop. Senioritis is kicking in majorly and I’m fully embracing it. In fact, the only things I have left to look forward to are 1) State Scifair in April, and 2) Intel ISEF in May. Hence, why March is going to be a hellishly long month. Perhaps I should get started studying for those AP exams. Just maybe.

Today’s an A day, which means some of my hardest and some of my most boring classes occur in rapid succession. Physics (hard), English (boring), Government (boring), Calculus (somewhere inbetween). What does this mean? I either have 1) a lot of makeup work, or 2) I will hate being there.

Apparently a lot of us were under the delusion that rankings stopped in February, but the truth is that they extend until April. WTF? Thanks, board of education. You’ve just prolonged my torture by 6 weeks. Now I actually have to keep caring. But mark my words, once AP exams are over, I’ll be committing quite a few acts of truancy =)

Yesterday a bunch of SnM and miscellaneous people got on Ventrilo, and we had a mad awesome improv session. There were something like 3 pianos (OWA, Mikage, moi); 2 flutes (Tas and me); 2 violins (Elina and me); 1 cello/trumpet/trombone (Sunako); quite a few recorder players (Eek included); 1 clarinet (Elina, though she never really played it); and a bunch of vocalists (Sapphi was the most prominent). It was fun to just kind of mess around and do whatever. Makes me miss band, you see =\

Afterwards, in the evening, I felt compelled to start up composition again, but I’ve either lost my touch or I’m just out of practice. Opened up my copies of FL and MPT and Finale and tried to whip up something, but was unsuccessful in every attempt. Sigh.

I need to finish my applications to my colleges (yeah, there’s still more). The higher-tier ones, that is. And it’s weird because my mother used to lecture me for applying, saying it was a waste of my time and blah blah, and now she’s lecturing me for not finishing them up,

For once I was able to get 7 full hours of sleep. I woke myself up at 6am since I was too anxious to sleep any more, ate a huge breakfast of strawberries and cereal, and then arrived at school at 7am. After a while, we got onto the bus (which looked brand-new; how nice) and started on our way down to the Parmer Events Center. On the way, everyone started discussing a bunch of science-related items, including whether we liked biology, chemistry, or physics most of the three main natural sciences. Emily was all for biology, John liked chemistry, and physics will always be my love. We called upon Lillian to break the three-way tie, but all she could say was that she liked biochemical physics most. Great answer

Once we arrived, we were given about 5 minutes to wander around and check out the competition. My first judge came about 10 minutes before 9am, when judging was -supposed- to start. She and another judge questioned me on my project as usual, so on and so forth comme d’habitude. The other members of my category were pretty cool as well. The other VRHS members (freshman - Alicia and Zach) had the best-looking boards, IMHO. There were two Brenham, two Bowie, and I think one Harmony student in my category (Behavioral & Social Sciences). One of the Bowie girls was pretty tall for a sophomore, and she kept on sneering (or so it seemed) at those around her. The other Bowie guy reminded me of John Veloria only he actually knew part of what he was talking about. And I swear he looked -extremely- familiar but I couldn’t place him, so whatever.

Judging for our category ended pretty quickly, and then we just stood around talking. After the judges finished discussion, three judges that didn’t judge me came back -just- to look at my project =) Zach kept insisting that he wasn’t good enough, but I swore that we would do amazing. Not to brag or anything, but it feels really cool to actually have people stare at your project and say, “Wow, look at that one” like I used to do as a little inferior freshman back in the day ;D

Finally they came on the loudspeaker and announced all the first place winners of each category and then dismissed us for lunch, warning that we should be back by 1pm for second tier judging. VRHS already won about 9 out of 17 possible first place spots, so all nine of us ran down to Sandy’s, got food, ran back, ate up our burgers and drinks in about 5 minutes flat, and ran back to our boards. We had to physically move our boards across the entire exhibit hall to the last two right-hand rows for second-tier judging.

During those two hours (1-3pm), I was bombarded with judges and ended up talking nonstop the entire time. As soon as one judge finished another came up, and sometimes a judge would come in the middle of another discussion and then after the first left I’d have to backtrack. I did get some really good connects, though ;D I met two guys from IBM, where my father works (I think they’ve all met each other at some time or another), and they told me more about what they did in their industry and etc. I also met two professors from UT, where I’ll most likely be going next year, in addition to some psychology majors who gave me good constructive criticism. By the time I finished the 2-hour judging, my throat was physically hurting since I had spoken so much. We 1st-placers went to get ice cream at Sandy’s and then sat around in the awards hall until we were able to rejoin with the others who had gone bowling. Chris and I and some of the other guys lined up in the hallway leading to the bathroom and started a joke of clapping whenever someone walked by. Pointless? Yes. Entertaining? Yes.

We headed to dinner at Shady Grove (and ended up speaking about Mina, Tanner, and taking over the world for the entire duration of our meal) and then came back to the convention center to make recordings and look at the other projects. At 7:15pm sharp, we had to endure a grueling performance by the Reagan HS drumline (all of our band/choir/musically inclined students were groaning inwardly the entire time, myself included). After that came awards.

I won’t list out all the amazing people that were given awards or made it to state. I WILL say that when awards were being called for Behavioral Sciences, I was at the side of the stage with Alicia and Zach, and after they announced 4th and 5th place, I turned to them and said, calmly as I could, “Guys. We.. are going to State” and then we erupted in silent cheers.

Of course I already knew I was 1st in my category, so that wasn’t much of a surprise. What WAS a surprise, however, was the $1000 Austin Energy Math & Science Scholarship I received. Both I and Garrett (one of my classmates, 1st place CS) received the scholarship, along with another student. Finally, at the end they announced the Best of Fair winners, who would be the Texan representatives to the Intel ISEF (International Science & Engineering Fair) 2008 in Atlanta, GA.

Guess who was the first person to have her name called?
That is right, guys. Moi =)

I, along with a guy from Westwood HS and a team of two girls (Rachel + Emily) from my school, are going to Intel ISEF.

When they announced my name, I stood up and mouthed the words, “Oh my god” while screams erupted from everyone behind me. I was -shaking- as I walked up on the stage and received my award, and I seriously felt tears in my eyes. It’s just so surreal and unbelievable. I’ve dreamed of this ever since freshman year but I never believed it would ever happen. It’s like all of my hard work has finally culminated in this final reward, and I am just so very grateful for the opportunity. Apparently I was -the- top choice for Best of Fair; one of the judges told me that 17 out of 17 judges unanimously voted me as their candidate for 1st Best of Fair award, whereas they actually debated about the 2nd Best of Fair recipient.

If that wasn’t already good enough, VRHS also won sweepstakes for the third year in a row, which means we got the most points (awarded based on how many people a school places and in which positions) out of all the high schools in attendance.

What now, Bowie and Westwood? (our two largest rivals)

I’m just so psyched for Intel ISEF already. I don’t even care if I place at Intel, I am just so happy that I get to go at all. From what I’ve heard so far, Intel ISEF is just “one big party after another” (quote Mrs. Mann). There’s a day (or two?) for judging, one for public exhibition (in which all the foreign countries dress in cultural outfits to present their projects), several guest speakers and other things. It’ll be so exciting! Plus, while we’re in Atlanta, Megan Pendleton (Intel ISEF finalist ‘05 and VRHS Alpha class ‘07) is probably going to be meeting us there since she goes to school at Georgia Tech and is in the area. It’s going to be -so- fun getting to travel with Rachel and Emily and my teachers and meeting so many amazing scientists from all over the world.

There’s a bunch of fun events there too. The one I’m really looking forward to is the student pin exchange, in which each school or region takes a bag of pins designed by their school and then trades with everyone else. So eventually I’ll have a huge collection of pins from all over the world! In addition, there’ll be exhibits from professional companies, probably a bunch of people there to give out scholarships, maybe even college reps? There’ll be hundreds of PRs there, too! I’m amazed and excited and all sorts of impatient. Finally there is something for me to look forward to after spring break! Intel ISEF will be my last and final large event before… graduation! =O

Today during AP Biology class, it seemed the only thing we were able to talk about was science fair. I love how every year we come back from a scifair event and it seems as if we’ve all gotten closer. When Mrs. Mann was reviewing DNA replication with us, Tanner and Clayton got into a discussion about artificial intelligence, and Tanner speculated humorously that the secret of life lay in the introns.

During AP Biology class, Clayton -did- start an argument with Jennifer/Jordan/Jocelyn, and occasionally Jocelyn asked Tanner for backup. I, however, did not join the fray since I know arguing with Clayton is useless - he doesn’t hear anyone’s opinion except his own. His argument was that if you had two people of the same skill level playing the same instrument, they would sound the same. They were arguing so very loudly too, I couldn’t concentrate on my French homework that I was last-minuting. I seriously resisted the urge to yell out, “Clayton, shut up, I just did a freaking science project that could disprove your argument. You are wrong”… but of course I didn’t blurt that out. It would sound like bragging, and I always get a bit embarassed when people wish me congratulations around people who didn’t even make it to State or Regionals. It’s almost like salt in the wound for the others, and despite my antisocial-ness, I know if I was one of the 4th/5th/no-placers at Regionals, I wouldn’t like to incessantly hear about how someone was going to advance to State or Internationals. Common courtesy, guys.

I won’t be taking more samples between now and then, but I’ll probably be rewriting my paper like mad and redoing my board so its more readable. Either way, I’ll have more free time, so I’ve decided to go ahead and try to revamp both SnM in the near future. When I’m in college, I’ll just focus on SnM and use Crimsonietta as a blog; I won’t have much time for much else!

Either way, it’s 1:20am and I’m to bed. Already. Finally I can get some sleep!

Well as you all know (or maybe not), I’m a late sleeper. I head off to bed around 2-3am every night (recently got Steven into the same habit =P endurance is key, my friend!) and wake up around 6:30am every morning. Despite only getting 4 hours of sleep on average each day (unhealthy, I know), I’m always full of energy by the time I’m at school. It’s a nice technique, I like to think - if you can endure the lack of sleep for a month or so, then your body pretty much adapts to only needing a little bit of rest. Granted, you’ll have to microsleep every so often, perhaps take naps after school/work for a quick hour or so, and your athletic ability may not be tops, but for people like me who only sit in front of the computer and work on things + read interesting news articles + Photoshop + work on singing organization things… well, 4 hours of sleep gets me by just fine =D

Unfortunately, science fair boards are due this Wednesday, and guess what? It’s already Tuesday and I haven’t started. Guess who’s pulling an all-nighter tomorrow? That’s right, I’m ready to tackle the 0 hours of sleep. In order to do -that-, though, I’ll have to be leaving for bed -earlier- tonight. Yes, for once I’m going to bed at 1am instead of 3am.

Then again, it won’t help much because I plan on waking up at an insanely early time (5am) to work some more. So.

Moral of the story: learn to endure ;)

Well, happy Valentine’s Day to all my visitors, though I call it V-day to conserve syllables. Besides, “V-day” sounds more pleasant to the ears and could be taken to stand for various other things. Such as “Very-overly-hyped-lovey-dovey-Day”. Already I’ve seen three girls with giant balloons and flowers, and before the day’s over I’m sure I’ll see a lot more. As for me, I just have candy for everyone and cupcakes for my French class. I don’t really do the V-day thing. Although I did bust out my new jeans for today since they have a pink lace sash and the word “love” embroidered on with some other pretty motifs.

These past few days I’ve been anxiously catching up on schoolwork, but I guess that’s how AP (Adv. Placement this time, not Associated Press) classes go. I miss -one- single day of school and it feels as if I’ve been constantly playing catch-up. I need to stop procrastinating, as I told the 10th grade parents when I went to give a speech to them. My hard work -has- paid off some, however. I can’t say my grades are stellar at the moment, but that’s mostly because of overdue lab reports. I owned my AP Physics C and AP Calculus tests yesterday; 91 in Physics, which is so hard most of us usually fail the tests (she probably gave us a slight curve, but even with the curve that’s still an awesome grade. After all, the AP tests themselves are curved, so this emulates perfectly an AP test experience)… and a 98 in Calculus! It -was- a slightly easier test, but that doesn’t matter. I got a great grade, and that’s what counts!

I rejoined the staff at Ballads & Bows, the BSSM/PGSM/Myu music review site. Granted I was disappointed I couldn’t take up the spot of Saturn again, but Chibimoon isn’t that bad either. I’m excited we’re reviewing music from all three media instead of -just- PGSM (which in my opinion had the worst music out of the three). I can finally start expressing my love for Triple Dreams and Sailor War Supreme and Tuxedo Mirage, etc.

By the way, I started writing this post at school, but during 5th period, while I was typing it, all of a sudden a popup window appeared. Out of reflex, I tapped the enter key before reading what it said, and then all of my IE windows closed. Frustrated, I opened up another and tried to come to this page, but I was greeted with another shutdown of IE. My desktop began to behave strangely, as if someone was sporadically taking control of my machine. So I opened up a new Notepad document and typed “I don’t appreciate members of the administration and faculty spying on my actions on the computer” and left it there long enough that whoever was looking at my screen would be able to see it.

I’m just more than a little irritated at the monitoring system that runs rampant at our school. In fact, I was sitting in a classroom with the Credit Recovery kids. Nearly all of them were playing games. None of them had their Internet shut off, but I did. WTF indeed? I wasn’t even playing games or looking at shallow entertainment sites. I was making a post on my blog about how I successfully passed my AP Physics/Calculus exams. I wasn’t bashing on teachers. I wasn’t using crude language. I wasn’t spilling all my personal info and the school’s secretz to the world. Was there -any- premisis for me to get punished while many others around me were doing things just as if not more nonproductive?

I’ve also about had it with my school’s filter system. Can’t wait until I don’t have to be around it anymore. Seriously, Sekai no Melody is my singing organization, and whenever I want to work on it, I don’t even have access to it because it’s blocked for being a forum. Yes. That’s why it’s blocked; it’s a forum. I can’t visit perfectly harmful graphics resource sites, read blogs, anything. I mean yeah the computers are for educational means, but just because I want to read articles about PHP programming doesn’t mean I’m looking at illegal items. I wanted to visit a forum to ask scientific questions, and was unable to. I want to work on SnM when I have spare time, but no. I can’t even access some scholarship sites. Is this an oppression of free speech or what?

Either way, I had better get working. My grades have been less than stellar lately.